Normandy 2024 Dear friends, There is a little patch of Normandy in Checkendon churchyard. Lt William Temple was among the very first to land in France, coming from the sky with the 7th Battalion (Light Infantry) of the Parachute Regiment, on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944, part of the 6th Airborne Division. He was a platoon commander, (No1 Platoon, A…
In the blood Dear friends, It is something we all take for granted – that our blood flows. Yet when we are cut, if all is working as it should, it clots as cells knit themselves together on exposure to oxygen. But day by day, as we breathe, our blood nevertheless carries this same oxygen round our vital organs and, wonderfully, removes…
Tongues of Fire Dear friends, A few days ago the earth was bathed in glory. A (22 years) rare solar storm sent great arcs of fire in the form of solar flares far out from the surface of our sun, and the associated bursts of high energy atomic particles, after a couple of days in transit, reached the earth. These particles, funnelled…
A Head for Heights Dear friends How are you with high places? The Shard in London is not for the faint-hearted; if you dare to look down you can see the roof structures and patterns of Southwark Cathedral laid out beneath you as if returned to the 2D of an architect’s plan. However, for most, the interest and detail of the all…
Back to the Zoo Dear friends On the south side of Berlin’s famous Tiergarten park is the grand modern building that is the home base of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, a fitting cultural powerhouse for a global city. Walking around this open concourse, however, will bring you upon a memorial to one of the lesser known atrocities of the Nazi regime. “Tiergartenstrasse…
Faith found by feeling Dear friends, A chance conversation with a young adult visitor before a busy baptism service gave me one of those “window” moments on Sunday. This is when you suddenly become aware that you are looking through what is normally opaque, and something is revealed, either outside, or inside. In this case, it was how someone felt about their…
The Thief in the Daytime Dear friends, One Saturday in the hot summer of 1976, my parents took my sister and I to visit an elderly great aunt in Eastbourne. It was about an hour’s drive, and, for young teenagers, these outings were always very tedious. Aunt Gert lived out of town, which meant we never got near the “seaside” proper. However…
The end of the consensus It seems to be a feature of contemporary life that the truth has become subjective. And so, in Tolkein’s words, written during the dark days of Nazism, “what should not have been forgotten has been lost.” Arising from the carnage of the second world war the international community could agree on one thing; we can’t let that…
Something to celebrate Dear friends, The grave could not contain him. Injustice, torture, and judicial murder did not finish him. Blood, nails, and a broken body did not constrain him. Mary met him in the garden, the voice of the Lord cutting through her grief and loss. Peter met him on the beach, with the smell of fish on the fire, and…
A different kind of prayer. Dear friends, If you were asked to define prayer, what would you say? Most would centre on a reply that was something like “asking God for things” – whether that be aid in difficulties or a material improvement in life circumstances. In the New Testament, Jesus mines this vein in the Lord’s prayer, expanding our engagement with…